Friday, July 18, 2008

You remember the short story competition I told you about in my last post? We are a team of 20 kids, and each had to submit a story. Well, I wrote one and my English teacher liked it so much that we planned to convert it into a 5 minute movie and send it in for a movie making competition. We had the cast, production team, director, camera man (all amateurs) and everything else ready, but the problem was...the movie had to be shot at somebody's apartment, we needed uncles and aunties to play the older characters (nobody was willing) and professional help for handling the cameras and do the choreographing. And we had to do all this in just 1 day!

You can go to youtube.com and type 'Ordinatrix' (the name of our competition) in the search bar. The first three-four videos won prizes last year in the same competition. I have my story visualized in a similar manner, but it's impractical to start shooting when there's so little time left. The last date is Monday; Sunday is reserved for editing and special effects. So even if I change my mind and start directing this thing, I have just the next 24 hours. And mind you, perfecting one scene takes around 2 hours. We do not have guidance from any teacher or expert, it's just us - 14 year old kids.

There have been many ego hassles between the team members as well, because everybody wants to direct their own story. I helped my best friend in the rehearsals for her movie even though my own script wasn't ready, but she didn't give a hoot about mine. So the politics is another reason why I want to back out. It will be a lot of headache and time waste for many others as well, and we don't even know if the hard work will pay....

Looking at the brighter side, our movie (only if selected among the top ten) will be shown in PVR Cinemas all over Delhi, and the entire school will be invited to watch it.

So you tell me....fast....to shoot or not to shoot??!

~ a thoughtful jan.

(P.S. I went to a Science model exhibition in a nearby school today, had lotsa fun and made many new friends (and bunked school.Yays!) 'Twas interesting, but the kids presenting the models didn't know a thing. We had a nice time torturing them with stupid questions and acting extra inquisitive and interested! ;) )

6 comments:

Chicka trust me and your initution..This is Gonna be BIG and great and 3 wordsGO FOR IT!its a chance of a lifetime.!!When i got a chance for my intern with NDTV ..i was a nervous wreck..and i had always wanted to work with ndtv..the cameras,,equipments were heavy and complicated..yet me and my mate managed...and you know won first prize amongst teams from Sri ram school and heritage school

@snobo: thnxx man, u almost changed my mind. but i spoke to my mum nd on second thoughts, if i bcum the main character in the movie, then who will handle the cameras? nbdy else knows how to keep a single frame and when to zoom in/out etc., nd the seniors dun wanna help.

we hvnt rehearsed evn once. worse, the script isnt evn complete yet!there are scenes of car windows breaking, how will we manage that?

ui wud hv certainly dun it if i had two weeks or so in hand!

hey please dont say I'm being pessimistic and all. i'm just being practical. and the last three weeks have been huge headaches cuz of this thing, n i'm not game to any more!!

Lol..anytime dudette..but I'd like to add that you got a little short on human resources[again economics!] ..we had 48 hrs to shoot,edit,script et al. Ya know it was a story..that too on HOli during Holi..tough but really awesome experience.considering you are a little too young[no offences] ..its ok..but grab the next chance if ya get..its hard to have such lucrative deals coming your way.!Take Care and all The luck..!!

Who am I ??

Just like the eight planets, my life revolves around those of my parents and dearest friends.
Just like the birds, I love freedom. The freedom, to express myself.
Just like the stars, I dream to shine and illuminate the nights one day. Fulfill my dreams.
Just like the bees, I like to be active throughout the day.
And just like any other ordinary teen,I lead an ordinary life, absolutely fed up of school, exams and teachers.